Back in March I launched the Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices accelerator in London, and since then we’ve been working hard to find and meet the best IoT hardware startups across the world. This search has taken us to a number of cities already, including Stockholm, Taipei, Berlin, and most recently a visit to Bangalore.

India is of course a well-known hub for software development and tech support, so I didn’t have huge expectations when it came to meeting startups working on hardware / connected devices. I was there to simply explore the scene and get a feel for what entrepreneurs within IoT are working on. And yet they must have known we were coming — even the Economic Times led the groundwork for us (see billboard above left)!

Well I’m pleased to report that if you’re looking for a crafty entrepreneur with a background in engineering or hardware then Bangalore is definitely the place to be.

We hosted an IoT meetup at Workbench Projects — a great location, a proper maker space with all the right machines and more , which was a bit surprising at first given it’s actually part of a Metro station!

Twelve startups, all of whom are working on a connected device, were invited to the day. After a short intro to the Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices program, I spoke with each of the startups and the variety was very impressive. Some startups were working on fairly traditional ideas at an early stage, whilst others came with a really well thought through business plan for attacking the IoT market.

Looking specifically at the teams, interestingly around 50% were using at least one non-Indian team member, and 90% were manufacturing their product locally in India.

By far the most impressive startup I met was IoT POT, a smart kitchen enabler with an entrepreneur who already has a successful exit under his belt. Their founder clearly knew how to create a compelling story and a pitch deck that has all the right components to it. The team, product-market size, USPs, competition, vision; all aspects were very well covered.

Two other notable mentions were CarbonSalt and Lumos Design. CarbonSalt builds intelligent and predictive energy monitoring for enterprises using IoT and machine learning, whilst Lumos Design is working on solar backpacks for cyclists, aiming to improve visibility and reduce accidents.

This stop was an eye-opener and my conclusion is simple; the IoT scene is clearly developing in India, but more importantly, it’s not just software coming out. Bangalore was well worth the visit, and definitely a place we’ll be returning to in years to come.​For now it’s back to London for a similar event we’re running this coming Tuesday. If you’re interested in attending then you can register here, and don’t forget you can still apply for the Startupbootcamp IoT | Connected Devices program.

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